This results in:
- anaemia
- sideroblasts in bone marrow
- rarely haemosiderosis as the body keeps absorbing iron in its futile attempt to correct the anaemia (haemosiderosis may be revised in MRCP revision battle 28.1)
The image below from Wiki Commons shows ring sideroblasts:
Causes of sideroblastic anaemia include:
- congenital causes
- delta-aminolevulinate synthase deficiency
- x linked recessive, rare
- responds to pyridoxine
- acquired causes
- myelodysplasias
- alcohol
- lead
- chemotherapy
- anti-TB meds
Treatment is to treat the cause, supportive care and pyridoxine.
